


A Rock and a Hard Place... And You

by Samyx914



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), First Meetings, Gay Keith (Voltron), Homophobia, I know that I have tagged abuse but I will put in notes so that you can avoid it, Keith doesn't talk, Lance wants to know why, M/M, Updates on Friday/Saturday!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-04-07 06:24:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14074860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samyx914/pseuds/Samyx914
Summary: Keith Kogane, a high school senior with high hopes for the future, is keeping a secret. His mother has tried to patch up their broken home with an abusive boyfriend. The two spend most of their time fighting. And they overlook Keith, leaving him to fend for himself.Keith has a plan to get out; away from this house, this town. And he’s getting closer to the next step. But, this step becomes a leap when out of nowhere he makes a new friend, who gets a little too close to finding out the truth.





	1. Meet Keith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith listens to a fight and goes to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone. Thank you for coming to read my newest fic. I know that this is kind of different coming from me, the fluff master. But, I needed an outlet to express myself when I'm upset and I've been working on this for a pretty long while.
> 
> ***This fic describes abuse and in later chapters, there will most likely be depictions of violence/fighting. And I'll change the content ratings if it happens. I advise anyone who is triggered by abuse/violent behavior not to read this fic.***
> 
> Anyways, thank you for reading and please check the End Notes for more from me!
> 
> Enjoy!

_More yelling?_

_And, wait. Fuck._

_Is that crying?_

_Damn it. They’re at it again,_ Keith thinks to himself. He sighs and stands up, crossing the floor to his bedroom door to lock it, so at least he’ll be somewhat separated from the bullshit outside. He turns the lock and goes back to his desk to attempt to finish his English paper. _Ms. Daley is gonna have a cow if I miss another due date. It’s bad enough not having a computer anymore._

Having to write papers by hand and get to school as early as possible to type them and print them out, well, it certainly isn’t easy. But it’s his only option. And hell, as long as it gets done, it doesn’t matter that much. He flips the page of his worn out textbook and starts scribbling down something about the motifs in Shakespeare’s _Macbeth._

Profanities are spewing in from the room over, spilling through the crack under Keith’s bedroom door. Keith rolls his eyes, _fuckwad._ He writes another sentence and hears a chair scoot across the floor. Keith can’t tell if he’s going to sit down or throw it at the wall in a fit of rage. He’s done it before. Twice. They’re down to only two chairs in the dining room.

It’s not like Keith needs a chair, though. He doesn’t eat with them. Hell, he barely interacts with them at all anymore. His mother and this man, this slime ball of a man. The epitome of human garbage: Robert, Bobby, Bob. It doesn’t matter what you call him, he’s a dick. What kind of a name is _Bob_ anyway?

Now, the name itself seems nice enough, but the man it belongs to encompasses every undesirable trait a person could have. Keith rolls his eyes again as the volume of the fight escalates. The fact that his mother allows this man in her life, let alone her son’s life, is laughable. The fact that she’d let him move into their already too small home, even worse. It’s as if she thinks his behavior is normal and what’s worse, she won’t kick him out. It’s like she enjoys being treated like shit.

And the last time Keith had tried to stand up for her, she told him to stop being immature and sent him to his room. _Immature? Is that what it’s called when you try to keep your mother alive?_ Anyway, after that incident, he’d decided that the best way to deal with it was to ignore it completely. To quite literally lock himself away in his room and not take part in the senseless arguing.

Keith sighs and then comes more yelling, this time from his mother. He finishes the last sentence of his paper and closes his notebook, careful to place both items back into his backpack. He’d showered when he got home from work, a mere hour and a half ago. So he gets ready for bed, tucking his desk chair under the doorknob that allows access into his bedroom. Just in case.

He hurriedly makes his bed, which for Keith means tossing his pillows to the head of the bed and spreading out his blanket, so he can crawl under it in a few minutes. He goes to the small bathroom attached to his room and brushes his teeth, noting the bags under his eyes when he glances at his reflection in the mirror. _Huh. Figures._ With Keith’s fucked up sleep schedule, it’s a wonder he doesn’t constantly have full circles.

Every morning, he’s at school by 7:15. Then by 3:30, he’s at work, busing tables until 10:30. Huh, what is that? Six hours of sleep once he’s done with homework and taking care of himself? Yep, sure is. He’s fine. He can handle it. He has for this long, he’ll live a while longer. Keith flinches when the front door slams.

_He must be off to get black out drunk again,_ he suspects of his mother’s boyfriend. Is it wrong to hope that he wraps his car around a telephone pole this time? Probably. Nonetheless, it’d be no skin off Keith’s nose if something happened and he could go back to having a semi-functional family of just him and his mom. A loud, frustrated sigh and another door slams, the one to his mother’s bedroom. _Christ._

He refrains from shouting something of his own. That’d break his no talking rule. It’s been in place for… three months? And it’s working great! He doesn’t speak unless someone speaks to him first, like a teacher or coworker. He ignores everyone else. He doesn’t have to interact with anyone and he doesn’t have to hear his own voice. It’s perfect.

He double-checks the door— it’s secure— and turns off the lamp before pulling back the corner of his blanket. He slides into bed and stretches out his back before he starts to make his nest for the night.

He settles at his side and bends his knees. _Perfect._ He closes his eyes and remembers that he hasn’t plugged in his cellphone. _Damn._ Keith stretches his arm up and grabs his phone from the corner of his desk and shoves the charger into the side. Then he snuggles into his mound of pillows and falls asleep, thankful for the silence.

\--

The next morning, Keith wakes to the sound of his alarm. He shuts it off and stretches his back before standing up out of bed. It’s quiet this morning, almost too quiet. But he doesn’t have enough time to worry about it, he has to get ready for school. He sighs and grabs a t-shirt off the ground. It doesn’t smell bad, so he tugs it on and starts to find a pair of pants.

He spots a pair dangling off the foot of the bed. _I think I wore those a couple days ago. Doesn’t matter. No one will notice anyway._ He grabs them and pulls them on before crossing the floor to grab a pair of socks from his small dresser. He slips his feet into his shoes, too lazy to untie them and he’s ready.

Keith stands up and goes to look at himself in the mirror. He looks okay. Kind of like the child of a fairy who fucked a vampire. He snorts and checks that all his things are in his bag. Keith shoves his arms through the sleeves of his jacket and he’s ready to go.

He climbs onto his bed and slides the window up. He tosses his backpack out, then he follows, pulling the window back down. He leaves it open just slightly, so he can get back inside tonight. His window is his only means of coming and going. Keith likes leaving his bedroom locked up, so that hopefully he won’t come home to find more of his things missing.

After his laptop disappeared, he started using the window. He figured that it was sold for booze, or maybe drugs. But it’s fine. As soon as he has enough money, enough for an apartment and a second hand car, he’s moving out of this hole and leaving this mess behind. He’ll buy a new computer when he does. He smiles at the thought, and at the soft tinges of pink in the sky above him. It’s a beautiful morning to walk to school. And it’s decently warm out for autumn.

He remembers hearing it rain last night, but it’d stopped by the time he woke up. The grass in his backyard is still wet though, and humidity lingers in the air around him. Keith rounds the corner of his house and makes his way to the sidewalk. He could wait for the bus at the end of the street, but he likes getting there early and he doesn’t live far anyway. He walks. It doesn’t take very long to get there. About fifteen minutes usually. Sometimes it’s more, depending on whether he grabs something to eat on the way. There’s a McDonald’s nearby, fortunately.

_What should I get today? Am I even hungry? Nah, not really. But I have work after school, so maybe I should eat something now._ His stomach growls and he takes the noise as a ‘yes, you need a chicken biscuit.’ He nods to himself and decides to stop on his way. It’s only… 7:01. He’s got over an hour to get to school. Class doesn’t begin until 8:15. But the doors open at twenty after seven, which is lucky for Keith. He can use the library and be gone before the crowd shows up.

He looks down at the ground and notices that his shoe is coming untied. That’s what he gets for not re-tying it. He bends down and quickly does up the laces in a double knot. While he’s crouched down, he checks the other shoe. It’s tight.

Keith can see his school over the hill and more importantly, he sees the source of his breakfast. _I’d better be sure I’ve got a couple bucks with me._ Keith goes to dig in his jeans pocket, but then he hears something. Footsteps behind him? _Robert?_ He turns quickly to look.

Nothing.

He scrunches his brow, he could’ve sworn he’d hear something. He turns again and is shocked to find someone standing directly in front of him. Keith jerks backwards and nearly falls on his butt, but the boy catches Keith’s wrist and keeps him steady. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know this chapter was short and just exposition. But this fic's chapters are going to be on the shorter side, so that hopefully I can maintain an upload schedule.
> 
> New chapters should be up on Fridays from here on! I'm excited to try and stick to a schedule, but you guys know that there'll be weeks when I need more time. So, just try and forgive me for that.
> 
> You should go check out my other fics if you haven't already, they're all klance! And are a lot softer than this!
> 
> And you can follow me on Tumblr here; koganelovesmcclain.


	2. Meet Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance introduces himself and the two have breakfast together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Just like I said! On time and everything!  
> *gasp* :) 
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoy this chapter! Please. I'm honestly begging you. :')

“Hi, I’m Lance. What’s your name?” he says happily, as if he hadn’t just scared the hell out of a stranger. After looking him up and down, Keith yanks his arm away from the other boy. He walks around him and continues on his way. He can hear the other following him down the sidewalk. He ends up at Keith’s side, arm bumping Keith’s. _Too close._

“I, uh, I guess you’re going to Altea High, too?” he asks. Keith glances at him quickly, then nods.

“That’s cool. I’m kind of nervous. A little. I’m a new student.” Lance says. Keith could’ve guessed. When he doesn’t respond, Lance continues. “What’s the school like?”

Keith shrugs and gestures with his hand as if to say ‘so-so.’  _Why aren't you getting the message? I don't want to talk to you_ , Keith thinks.  The other boy smiles. “So you _can_ hear me.” Keith nods.

“Then why are you? You can't talk?” Lance asks sadly. “I’m sorry.”

Keith shrugs. It isn’t really lying, right? This Lance guy said it, not Keith. “Hey, uh, do you wanna share my umbrella?” This guy isn’t going away. Keith clears his throat and reaches into his jacket pocket to pull out a small notebook and a pencil. It's a last resort, and the only way he communicates with strangers. He sees confusion drape itself over the new boy’s features. Keith stops walking and Lance stands beside him. Keith scribbles down a note.

It’s not raining. He shows Lance the notebook page. Luckily, Lance can read his penmanship. He clicks his tongue.

“It’s about to.” he says, matter-of-factly.

How do you know? Keith raises a brow.

“I just do,” Lance says, opening his umbrella. Keith scoffs. “Make fun if you want, but I’ll be dry.” Keith shrugs again. As if on cue, a drop of water hits Keith’s notebook, creating a wet dot on the page. Keith’s mouth drops open and he looks at his new companion in bewilderment.

“Told ya,” Lance grins, raising his blue umbrella over his hand with a flick of his wrist. Another drop hits the paper. Keith clicks some lead out of his pencil.

Can I take you up on that? Lance smiles and switches hands to hold the umbrella between them. Thanks.

“No problem. So, are you going straight to school?” Lance asks.

I’m actually going to get some food at McDonald’s first.

“Oh. Can I come with you?” Lance asks after reading the note. Keith nods, you’ve got the umbrella after all. Lance laughs.

“Rude.” he says, pretending to take the umbrella away, laughing when Keith scrambles to stay under it.

You're mean, Keith writes. Lance readjusts his umbrella over the two of them.

“So, what are you gonna get for breakfast?” he asks.

Chicken biscuit. Keith scribbles while they walk.

“Hmm, sounds good.” Lance says, considering getting one for himself. Keith nods his head. And then, the rain intensifies, switching from a light sprinkle to a full on shower.

“Shit!” Lance says, “that's cold rain! Let's go!” Keith crams his notepad into a pocket and the two rush towards shelter in the fast food restaurant. Keith’s converse don’t take rain well, his feet are soaking. And Lance’s longer legs make him faster, but he matches Keith’s pace when he notices the other boy falling behind.

They make it to the restaurant in minutes, Keith grabs the door and holds it so that Lance can shake off his umbrella before coming inside. Once they're sheltered, the sky opens up and rain comes down in sheets. The boys share a look. Keith, secretly very grateful to have run into Lance. Lance drops his umbrella by the door and follows Keith over to the counter.

“Good morning sunshine,” the cashier says cheerfully when she sees Keith. Keith smiles and gives a wave of his fingers. Jackie is one of the sweetest people he’s ever met. She’s always patience with him and is one of the only people in his life that actually speaks to him on a semi-regular basis. It’s comforting. And she notices immediately that Keith isn’t alone.

“Who’s this?” she asks with a raised brow.

“Uh, I’m Lance, I’m new in town.” Lance says from right behind Keith. Her smile returns.

“Well, nice to meet you honey. Whatcha need this mornin’, Keith?” she asking pressing a couple buttons on her register. Keith can feel Lance’s eyes on him, wondering probably how he is going to order without talking. So, he holds up his fingers to look like a number sign, taps them together twice, and then holds up four fingers.

“Chicken biscuit?” she asks. Keith nods.

“With water?” Keith nods again. She grabs a cup from behind her and sits it down. “That’ll be $3.05.” Keith hands over a five and she gives him change, which he stuffs into his pocket.

“See you later honey,” Jackie says. Keith moves over to wait for his order. It comes pretty quickly, almost before Lance can order the exact same thing. By the time Lance's food is ready, Keith is sitting at a booth with his backpack in the seat next to him and his notepad open on the table. Lance picks up his tray and looks towards Keith, who gestures for him to come sit with him. Lance smiles and comes to join him.

He sits his tray down and slides into the seat next to Keith. Keith unwraps his food and takes a bite of his breakfast sandwich. It’s delicious. Or, he’s just hungry because he hasn’t eaten since school lunch yesterday. He swallows and takes a long sip of his water.

“What grade are you in?” Lance asks, unfolding the wrapper of his own food. Keith switches to holding his sandwich with one hand in order to write with the other.

I’m a senior.

“Me too!” Lance says happily. “What is your homeroom?”

Bowling, room 243. Keith writes.

“Really? I think that’s who I have.” He digs into his pocket and pulls out a piece of folded paper, which he flaps open with his hand. “Yep! Mike Bowling!”

What a coincidence. Keith writes. Maybe he’ll actually make a friend. Hell, it’s been such a long time since he’s had one, he doesn’t really remember how it works.

“Do you have any of these?” Lance asks, spreading out his class schedule on the table for Keith to see. Keith scans the page and his eyes widen, he is looking at an exact replica of his own schedule. _Huh. Weird._

Keith picks up his pencil makes little checks next to each name. Lance’s mouth opens. “You have them all?” Keith nods. “Wow. That’s handy. Now, I just have to follow you around and I won’t get lost.”

Keith snorts and picks up his sandwich again. He glances at the clock hanging behind the counter, it’s 7:24. He’d normally be at the school by now. _Damn._ He scarfs down the rest of his meal then wads up the paper. Lance gawks at him.

“What’s the rush?” he asks, sipping on his water. Keith grabs his pencil.

I have to print something in the library before class, he writes.

“Oh, okay. Wait for me!” Lance says, he wraps his food back up and pushes it into the pocket of his hoodie. Then he picks up his cup and he’s ready to go. Keith exhales through his nose and dumps their trays off into the trash bin. Lance grabs his umbrella from the ground and they’re out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we have it! They've met! :) 
> 
> Please leave a comment or kudos, or [reblog my post on tumblr](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/post/172192029388/a-rock-and-a-hard-place-and-you-words-1579) if you like it so far.
> 
> It didn't get nearly as many hits in its first week as my works usually do and I'm guessing it's because of the abuse warnings. And I understand! But I'm still like,,, am I doing something wrong? T_T


	3. Quick Fingers McClain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys get to school and speedy typing ensues. Then, Lance meets his first class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I forgot to update yesterday. ~(o.o)~ I meant to, but then I got distracted by Miraculous Ladybug...  
> So... :')  
> But here we go!

Keith barely hears Jackie shout, “have a great day at school!”

He smiles and then freezes up when a sheet of water lands at his feet. _Damn drive-thru,_ he thinks, mentally flipping off the asshole in the pickup truck who just drenched his shoes, which had kinda dried while they were in McDonalds.

“You okay?” Lance asks. Keith nods and follows him towards the school, which thankfully is not far. Almost just across the street. The boys make it inside by 7:28, according to one of the digital clocks in the hallway.

“So, I guess I should go to the office first? Which way is that?” Lance asks, looking around the foyer. Keith points to a door on his right. “And you’ll be in… the library?” Lance asks. Keith nods and points in the opposite direction. “I’ll meet you there in a few minutes. Please don’t leave before I get there.” Keith crosses his heart and hightails it to the library.

He drops into a chair at a row of computers. There aren’t many people yet. Usually, people pile in at the tables to talk— very loudly— to whoever they call friends. Keith starts to log on to a computer. _Damn, this thing is going to take forever to load. I’m never going to get this typed._ Keith isn’t a master typist anyway, he needs all the time he can get.

The desktop finally whirls to life and Keith opens the Microsoft Word program before shuffling in his backpack for the paper he’d hurriedly written last night. He finds it and props it next to the keyboard, ready to type for his life.

\--

Lance is wishing that he’d went the other way. He doesn’t know what’s taking so long, he already has a schedule. He has someone to show him around, he thinks Keith is willing to be followed around for a couple days anyway. So, where’d this old woman go?

She finally comes back and hands him a map of the school, information about their no drug policy, and a school handbook. Lance thanks her politely and rolls his eyes the second he exits the room. He doesn’t smoke, it’s bad for you. And he’s pretty sure he isn’t going to break any rules. But oh well. Lance avoids bumping into a snobby looking girl, who unabashedly checks him out before continuing down the hall. He’d have been flattered, and might’ve even flirted, but he’s got to find the library. Pronto.

He doesn’t want to lose Keith.

\--

Meanwhile, Keith is typing for his life. Well, that’s an exaggeration. But he’s definitely typing for his grade. _I just need another set of hands,_ he thinks just as a hand finds its way to his shoulder. Keith jerks and whips around to find Lance standing behind him.

“Sorry that took so long. The old lady had to give me this crap.” he says, dropping the papers on the table next to Keith’s essay. He notices it. “Oh damn, you have to type it first?” he asks, sliding into the seat. Keith nods. “Can I help?”

 **How?** Keith types on his screen. He points to it and Lance laughs.

“I can type the other half and save you time. Is this stapled?” he asks, pulling the pages apart. Lance shows Keith a section of the essay. “I’ll type from… here to the end. Is that good?” Keith nods.

**God bless you, Lance.**

“No problem. I’ve totally got this.” he says, turning to face the blank computer screen. “But, uh, I need you to help me log on.” Keith nods and takes the keyboard. He types in his own login ID. He doesn’t have time to figure out what Lance’s would be. The computer starts to boot up and Keith starts typing on his own. “Thanks!”

Keith pokes Lance in the side. **I’ll help you figure out your sign in details later, okay?** Lance nods and cracks his fingers as the computer loads. He opens the typing program and a few seconds later, Keith is watching the fastest typing he’s ever seen. He has to remind himself that Lance is only doing part of the essay, but hell, he could probably type the entire thing before Keith could finish half.

“Impressed? Just call me Quick Fingers McClain.” Lance laughs, not breaking his rhythm. Keith snorts and rolls his eyes.

**Your superhero name?**

“Hmm, maybe? Stop laughing at me and type, dude!” Lance says.

\--

Keith’s paper gets typed, with help from “Quick Fingers,” who he’s still laughing at. He wiggles his fingers rapidly at Lance, who sighs.

“Okay, forget what I said. I don’t want people to call me Quick Fingers. Especially not on the first day,” Lance says, leaning on the copy machine as it angrily spits out Keith’s assignment. Keith just laughs and staples the sheets together at the corner. They sign out of their computers at 8:03. And are in their first class by 8:06.

“So explain why we have a homeroom, but we don’t go to it?” Lance asks as he takes the empty seat next to Keith. Keith nods and pulls out his notebook.

I don’t know why? They’re really stupid. We only go to homeroom for like, ACT testing, and when we vote for class presidents. Keith shows Lance the paper and shrugs. He hears someone to the right say something like ‘who’s that with Kogane?’ but he ignores it. They don’t need to know.

Their teacher, Mrs. Davidson, walks into the room carrying a steaming mug of coffee. She doesn’t even realize she has a new student until she sees his name on the roster when she calls roll.

“Kogane?” she says. Keith raises his hand.

“McClain?” she does a double take. “Lance McClain?” she spots him sitting next to Keith and looks back at her roster on the computer screen. “Oh, you’re new. It used to put new transfers at the bottom of the list. I’m Mrs. Davidson. I try to teach Calculus, on the rare occasion that people pay attention.” she directs the last of her statement towards the chatty group of kids in the back right corner. They don’t get the message. She sighs.

“Mr. Huff. If you and your little group don’t settle down, you can all go sit in the principal’s office.” she shuts them up and continues taking role.

“Wow, she means business.” Lance says in a whisper.

Those jocks never shut up. They really shouldn’t even be in this class. And you’d better start writing notes if you don’t want to be next. Lance gives a small thumbs up and turns around. Keith smiles and slides his notepad under his math notebook as Mrs. Davidson turns on her projector and starts to write down today’s notes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Feel free to follow my Tumblr @koganelovesmcclain for a lot of voltron and klance posts :) 
> 
> Please leave kudos or a comment (or both!) if you are enjoying this fic so far. (I realize that it's short and has barely begun, but... Please validate me.) And if you like my writing, I have a few other klance fics that you are more than welcome to check out!!
> 
> <3 <3 Stay tuned!! <3 <3


	4. Breaking Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith speaks. Lance is confused... and intrigued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy, ny'all. Sorry for skipping last week's update. Please read my End Notes, I wanna talk to you guys.

Their first class of the day passes pretty quickly considering that today’s lesson was completely new material. Keith took incredibly diligent notes and barely had a chance to say— well, write— a word to Lance, who seemed absolutely lost. Mrs. Davidson ends the class by assigning homework and giving them what she would call a generous five minute head start. But no one is going to work on it now, and she knows that. Keith supposes she was just done talking.

Keith is putting his things away when he notices that Lance has already got his stuff together and it waiting for the bell to ring. “McClain?” the teacher says from her desk. Lance looks towards her. She gestures for him to come forward. Keith watches her assign him an old dusty textbook and Lance returns to his chair after thanking her for it. He unzips his bag and slides the book inside.

“She forgot to give me a book. Where to next?” Lance asks as the bell rings. Keith points a finger to the ceiling and stands up.

“Chemistry is upstairs?” Lance asks. Keith nods and starts to shuffle towards the front of the room with the rest of the class, waiting for Lance to catch up. “Don’t leave me!” Lance says, gripping the back of Keith’s jacket.

“Holy crap, these people are crazy.” Lance says once they make it to a rather empty section of hallway. He lets go of Keith’s clothing. “Uh, sorry for grabbing you like that. I didn’t want to get lost.”

Keith shrugs, then smiles before pointing towards a staircase at the end of the hall.

“Damn, I hate stairs,” Lance whines. Keith nods and leads his new friend towards their next class.

\--

Chemistry was pretty much a bust. There was a substitute teacher who put on a movie as soon as everyone sat down _and_ there were no seats next to Keith. Lance had been forced to sit on the other side of the room from his only friend.

Thankfully, Keith waited for him, instead of leaving the room immediately. Now, Lance is following behind Keith like a lost puppy. He sees Keith point to a classroom on the right side of the hall and they merge into that line of traffic. Keith files into an aisle and takes a seat. Lance goes to follow him, but the teacher—Ms. Daley from the midnight purple painted wooden letters adorning the wall behind her desk— calls him over.

“Hey you, come here please.” she says, waving a finger. He obeys, walking towards her desk while watching Keith unpack his things. There’s an empty seat behind him, hopefully the seats aren’t assigned and he can sit where he wants. It’d be hard to read a note from the other side of the room, after all.

“I don’t recognize you. Are you my new student? Or are you skipping class?” Ms. Daley questions very seriously with an arched brow.

“I’m Lance McClain, the new kid.” Lance says, flashing a smile. Her suspicious expression remains the same. “I promise,” Lance adds, dropping the smile. Then her face brightens.

“I believe you.” she smiles and reaches over to shake his hand. _That’s a first._ “I’m Ms. Daley, your new English teacher. Tell me, had you read any Shakespeare at your old school?” she asks, pulling a purple text book off the bookcase behind her desk.

“Uh, we read Julius Caesar a couple of weeks before I moved.” Lance answers.

“Okay, well we’re working on Macbeth right now. I’ll have to get you caught up somehow. I’ve already threatened them with a huge exam over this play. It’s coming up next week.” she says with an evil grin. She writes Lance’s name in the front of the book with a lavender Sharpie pen and hands it to him before standing up.

“Class,” she says softly, her voice no match for the loud chattering of the students around her. She sighs before walking over to the door, she closes it loudly, not quite slamming it. And a hush falls over the room. “Thank you. We have a new student starting today and we’re all going to be nice and listen while he introduces himself. Right?”

Everyone in the room has stopped talking and Lance can see that some kids are confused, and a couple of girls are giving him a strange look. Then he remembers he’s supposed to be talking. “Er, I’m Lance. I just moved here and I don’t know what else to say.” he says slowly before shrugging.

“Sounds good to me. You can talk again. For a minute.” she says to the class. Instantaneously, the volume of the class rises by several intervals. “Have you made any friends yet today?” she asks in a quieter voice.

“I’m working on it.” Lance says with a smile.

“Well, I hope it’s not someone who you’re going to be chatting with all class period.” she says.

“No ma’am.” Lance says, crossing his heart with one finger. He knows for sure Keith won’t get in trouble for talking. She laughs.

“Okay. Well, I like my students to be in alphabetical order. It makes things easier. I’m going to try not to rearrange my whole room.” she looks back down at her roster. “Oh. Never mind you’re an easy one! So, I need you to sit behind Keith. Keith? Please raise your hand.” she says. Lance watches Keith put his hand in the air.

“Okay. Thanks.” Lance says, sliding into the chair directly behind the only person he knows at this school. “Lucky break for me.” Lance says, loud enough for Keith to hear. Keith turns his head and smiles softly before giving a thumbs up.

Ms. Daley claps her hands. “Okay people, you know the drill. Pass up your papers.” she announces.

“Which papers?” a boy asks from the back of the room.

“Your essays about the motifs we’ve seen in Macbeth so far, as if you didn’t know. I could see you trying to copy something down from Brittany, Justin. Being lazy is one thing, cheating is another. Please remove yourself from my class room.” she says, pointing to the door without turning. _Damn. Now I know why Keith was so frantic to type his essay this morning._

The boy in question huffs and takes his backpack with him towards the front of the room to exit, but she stops him. “Leave your backpack here and give me your cellphone. Take your textbook and a pencil. You’re going to sit in the hallway and work on your essay until we let you back in. And I’ll grade what you get done accordingly.” she says, taking his phone from his hand. He rolls his eyes and slinks out of the room, she closes the door behind him and sits his cellphone on his desk.

“Remind me not to piss her off,” Lance says to the back of Keith’s head. Keith doesn’t turn around, but Lance doesn’t blame him. The girl behind Lance jabs him in the neck with a thin stack of papers. “Ouch,” he says before turning slightly to take them from her. He rubs his neck and places the papers gently in Keith’s pale hand.

“Sorry, but you weren’t paying attention.” the girl says before popping her gum in his face.

“I just said what my name is. To the entire room. But sure, slash my throat with a stack of papers.” he mutters. Keith presses a note into Lance’s hand without turning. He opens it.

Ignore her. She’s rude to everyone. 

“Thanks,” Lance whispers, leaning forward.

“Okay. Thank you for the essays. I can’t wait to see what some of you thought. I hope, for your grades’ sakes, that you didn’t copy-paste from Sparknotes. I’ll try and have them graded and put into the system by Saturday evening.” Ms. Daley gathers the papers and places them in a tray on her wall.  “We’re going to pick up on Act IV. We’re almost done with the play. I know most of you are eager for it to be over. And frankly, so am I. So, we are on textbook page four eighteen. Does everyone remember their parts?”

A few people mumble that they do. “Alright, we need a couple extras for this scene: the three apparitions. Would anyone volunteer to read one?” Lance could swear crickets were chirping. “Alright, I’ll pick people to read. Cameron, you can be number one.” A shy looking girl sighs in the seat in the far left corner. “Lance, I know you’re new and you have no idea what’s going on, but you seem to have a nice clear voice, can you read number two?”

“That’s fine.” Lance nods, flipping the pages until he sees his part. It’s small, only two lines. _Nice._

“And apparition number three…” she scans the room, landing on Keith. “Keith.” Keith straightens up in his desk. Lance scrunches his brows. _Keith can’t talk though. Does she not know that? How could she not? He’s been in her class for two months. Wouldn’t he or his parents have told her? Is she trying to embarrass him or something?_

Lance nearly misses his part, having spent the entire reading time wondering who he could tell about a teacher picking on a mute student. Somehow he recognizes when apparition number one starts speaking and manages to focus on the words on the page in front of him.

“Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!—” Lance says in his best spooky ghost voice, unlike the other students who are merely muttering and stumbling over the words.

A boy to the right of him chimes in: “Had I three ears, I’d hear thee.”

“Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” Lance reads. Then, everyone in the room shuffles their books to turn the page. _Maybe the third apparition doesn’t even say anything, maybe it was a joke._

But when Keith’s part nears, he clears his throat and very clearly, albeit quietly, reads: “Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are. Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” Lance’s mouth falls open.

_He can talk. He has a really nice voice._

_Why has he been writing me notes all day long?_ Lance focuses on nothing else for the remaining ten minutes of class.

“Okay,” Ms. Daley says, as everyone starts to close their books. “We only have a few more minutes. And we’ve finished Act IV. There’s only one more and I think that we’ll be finished with the entire play by the middle of next week. I’m planning your test for Friday, so take note of that and be studying.” she says, sitting down at her desk.

“Also, Lance, since you’re going to be in a crunch here, I recommend that you use the version of Macbeth that is on Sparknotes. It has a modern English translation and the original side-by-side. It comes in handy.” she offers. Lance makes a mental note to look it up later.

“Thank you.” he says politely. Suddenly, she jumps out of her chair, eyes wide.

“We forgot about Justin!” she says, heading towards the door. The class breaks into laughter as he comes back inside.

“Thanks for letting me back in. I figured I was going to get trampled when classes change in two minutes.” he says.

“If you were responsible and did your homework once in a while, you wouldn’t have to go sit in the hallway to do it.” she says, taking his paper and placing it in the tray with the others. “We finished Act IV, so you’ll need to read the rest tonight.” The bell rings and everyone starts for the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... it seems like no one is really interested in this fic. :( I'm not getting very many hits, let alone kudos/ comments. And it's really discouraging.  
> If this continues, I might end up discontinuing the fic. I mean, it's not really worth the effort if people aren't reading and reviewing and sharing with their friends.  
> So, please consider reblogging [my Tumblr post](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/post/173173297258/a-rock-and-a-hard-place-and-you-chapter-4)  
> or telling your friends about this fic. It'd mean the world to me and if more people read, I'll be sure to update on time.  
> Thanks for reading. And for the two of you who'll comment. <3  
> Stay tuned.


	5. The End of the Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys have lunch and finish the school day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guyssss, I'm sorry this is late. Lol. This weekend I hung out with my sis and played video games and didn't get a chance to update, because last night ao3 was down?  
> But in the future, updates will be over the weekends (any day Fri-Sun).  
> Enjoy the longer chapter! <3

This time, Keith doesn’t wait for him. Instead, he flies from the room as soon as the bell chimes, leaving Lance to find his own way. He almost panics, but then he spots a shoulder length mop of black hair bopping down the hall. He tails him all the way to the other end of the building and down the stairs. Then he loses him again, momentarily, finally spotting him head into a large open room with percussion instruments filling the back. It must be the band room.

He follows Keith inside and his guess is confirmed when he sees a notice written on the whiteboard about band practice. He introduces himself to the rather tired looking teacher and goes to sit next to Keith. The teacher calls the role, and by the time he’s settled in his seat, she announces that it’s time for lunch. She props open a second door to her room and on the other side is the entrance to the cafeteria.

“Keith,” Lance says, catching his sleeve on the way into the lunchroom. Keith raises a brow.

“Why did you leave me in English? I got so freaking scared. These people are like a stampede.” he pauses for a second to observe what the other students have on their plates. Then he watches Keith pull out his notepad

Sorry! I didn’t mean to! I go to my locker before fourth period, to put my other books up. I usually rush to get to it so I won’t be late. I forgot I had a tail.

“Oh. I’m glad. I thought you suddenly hated me or something.” Lance says. Keith shakes his head. “So… How come you won’t… talk to me?”

Keith sighs and starts to write, putting his pencil to the paper a couple different times, trying to decide what to say. I don’t like talking, he decides. Lance reads it and scrunches his brows.

“Oh. Alright. I just… this morning, when I met you on the sidewalk, you said you couldn’t talk.” Lance says, trying to understand. Keith starts to write again and Lance stands behind him to read over his shoulder.

I didn’t say it, you did. I just kinda went along with it. I just don’t like talking, it’s nothing personal. He pauses for second for Lance to read, then flips the page and continues. Does it bother you that I’d rather talk this way? He shows Lance then moves up in the line.

“No, no. It doesn’t bother me. I just thought you couldn’t talk and when, uh, the teacher told you to read, I thought she was like… making fun of you? I was ready to report her or something.” Lance says, sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Keith smiles sweetly and pats Lance’s arm.

No, she thinks I’m shy. And I’m pretty sure she thinks that me reading aloud to the class will suddenly make me… not shy. Keith shrugs.

“Oh, okay. I’m glad then.” Lance says, relieved that their English teacher isn’t a total asshole who picks on disabled kids. Keith scribbles something down.

Do yourself a favor and skip the fries. They’re slimy and gross. Keith waits for Lance to nod and pushes his notebook into his pocket. He grabs a couple plastic trays, handing one to Lance.

“Thanks.” Lance says, following him into the serving area.  The buffet style counter is loaded down with oddly tasty-looking foods. Lance follows his friend down the line, picking out the same items that Keith gets— a hamburger, apple juice, a baggie of baby carrots, and a couple packets of ketchup. It’s kind of weird combination, but hey, Keith knows what to get, right?

After they get through the line, Lance has to have the lunch lady look up his lunch number for him. Of all the things the woman in the front office had given him, she forgot his lunch number. He borrows one of her pens and scribbles it on the back of his hand. Then Keith, who’d waited for him to finish, leads him to a table near the trash cans. It’s honestly not Lance’s first— or second or third— choice of seating during lunch, but he sits on Keith’s right side to make the note-reading easier. Lance opens his juice and takes a swig.

“So, not talking seems really hard,” Lance says, hoping to start more conversation. Keith takes a bite of his burger and while chewing, he starts pulling out his pad.

Hmm. It’s not really. I just don’t talk, unless I have to. Keith writes, before ripping open his bag of carrots. Lance decides to offer Keith his cellphone number. But then considers that Keith might not have one. _Never know unless you ask_ , he thinks. He reaches into his pocket to get his phone and instead produces something squishy and slightly wet. His eyes bulge. _What the fuck?_ Then, it clicks.

“Wanna know something gross?” Lance asks. Keith raises a brow and Lance pulls the breakfast sandwich into view. He’d forgotten about putting it in his pocket to finish later. Keith makes a face. Lance laughs and tosses it into a garbage can. Keith claps.

“Impressed?” Lance asks.

Something like that. Keith smirks.

“Do you have a phone? Maybe we can text later?” Lance asks, setting his phone on the table in front of him.

Yeah. I don’t remember the number to it though, Keith scrawls. Then he fishes his own phone out of his pocket. Lance gasps.

“Oh my God! An ancient being!” Lance says upon seeing a Blackberry. Keith rolls his eyes and grabs his pencil.

It’s old, but it works. Keith writes, clearly offended.

“Does it?” Lance says, studying the old school slider phone with two cracks on the top corner.

Sometimes… Keith shrugs. Not like I really use it. He waits for Lance to meet his eye, then gestures to the empty spaces at the table that only they are occupying. See what I mean?

“Oh. Well, either way. Can I put my number in?” Lance asks, not giving up. Keith slides it across the table. Lance picks it up, careful not to destroy a piece of history. “Let me see. I think I remember how to use this…” Lance successfully finds the contacts screen and adds himself in, nothing that the other two entries are ‘Mom’ and ‘Shiro.’

_Fuck that’s kind of sad,_ Lance thinks, before handing the phone back. He picks up his sandwich and has a bite. It isn’t too bad for a cheese-less burger dunked in ketchup.

\--

When their lunch period ends, they return to class and sit in the same seats as earlier. Lance on Keith’s left, in the front row of band chairs. Their teacher reenters the room.

“Today we’re going to finish our movie. Uh,” she pauses for a moment, snapping her fingers to jog her memory about her newest student’s name. “Lance, Lance?”

He nods and she continues, “we’re watching Disney’s _The Princess and the Frog._ It relates to jazz music, so we can get away with it.” she says before flipping off the lights and starting the movie. “You can talk, but keep it down. Some people want to watch. No phones!” she adds before going into a small office space at the back and closing the door behind her.

“Keith?” Lance says. Keith faces him. “Is this all we do in here?”

Pretty much. It’s a really easy class. Like, we’ll watch this. And then tomorrow, we’ll probably answer like five questions about the movie. That’s about it, Keith writes.

“Nice. I can do homework in here,” Lance says. Keith nods.

I do that sometimes. It helps a lot.

“I’d rather do it at school than at home, you know?”

Same. Keith writes, it’s easier to concentrate here. Of course it is, with the shouting matches that take place every night. But he isn’t going to tell Lance that.

“Yeah, I get that. So, next period, is Spanish?” Lance asks. Keith nods. “Awesome.”

You’ve already had Spanish II? Keith asks.

“Sort of,” Lance answers. “ _I’m Cuban.”_ Keith’s eyebrows raise.

_What? _ Keith writes. He can remember the basics, but beyond that, he’s lost. Lance repeats and Keith realizes what he’d said. You’re from Cuba?

“Yep.” Lance smiles.

That’s cool! Keith replies. Why are you taking Spanish II if you already know it all?

“Well, this school requires a semester of foreign language. And… Spanish is the only one they offer, so…” Lance says.

Yeah, it’s a shitty school, Keith writes.

\--

The boys continue their conversation until the bell rings and Lance follows him upstairs to the Spanish class. The teacher, an incredibly petite and smiley woman, welcomes Lance. “I’m Mrs. Carnes. And this is Spanish II. Did you take Spanish I at your other school?” she asks.

“I took ‘growing up in a Cuban household,’” Lance laughs.

“Oh, so you’ve already got an A for my class.” she smiles.

“Hopefully.” Lance replies.

“We don’t really do that much in here, this is the easier Spanish class. And everyone knows it. I’m not as strict as Mrs. Osborn. We do a lot of definitions and things like that. So, as long as you turn your papers in, you’ll be fine.” she explains. “You can sit anywhere.”

“Thanks,” Lance says.

“Oh, this is going to be fun. To actually be able to speak Spanish with someone,” she says as Lance slides into a chair next to Keith. He has his friend show him which page they’re on. And he spends the next hour scribbling down dozens of words that he’s known since before he could talk. But hey, at least he isn’t having to learn a new language.

\--

Their last class of the day is PE. Which Keith hates, primarily because he has to dress out. But luckily, their teacher is going to be out for the rest of the week, he has the plague apparently. And their substitute clearly doesn’t give a damn, she doesn’t even bother to take role, just tells everyone to do whatever they want.

“We can just sit here?” one girl asks. The sub glares at the group.

“As long as you leave me alone, I don’t care,” she snaps. The girl flinches and goes to sit on the ground near the wall, leading a group of others. Another group of kids go to grab basketballs and other sports equipment.

“What are we going to do?” Lance asks. Keith grabs his sleeve and pulls him towards the wall. Keith sits down, crossing his legs under him. Lance slides down the wall and pulls his knees up to his chest.

She’s a substitute. Our teacher is like, sick. Or dead or something.

“Pfft.” Lance laughs.

And she hates us.

“I think she hates everything,” Lance says, pointing to her, yelling into her phone. Keith nods.

“So, are we gonna just sit here?” Lance asks.

Well, I was gonna do some homework, Keith writes.

“Math?” Lance asks, straightening out his legs. Keith nods and pulls out his book.

“God, please. Explain how to do this,” Lance begs. “And also, I have to find my locker before my back goes out.” he says, dragging his book bag towards him.

Do you have that schedule still? It should say which locker is yours, Keith writes.

“Uh, yeah,” Lance answers. He pulls out the slightly bent piece of paper. Keith points out the box with his locker number and its combination. “Do you know where that one is?” Lance asks.

I think 0921 is on the upstairs back hallway, Keith writes.

“Oh, so, completely on the other end of where my classes are.” Lance groans. Keith thinks for a second.

Yeah. Apparently. But, if you want, you can share mine for today. Keith writes. Lance gives him a look.

“I can? God bless you, Keith,” he says.

Sure, now let’s see if we can figure these problems. Keith scrawls.

\--

They don’t. They both try to work the problems out, but to no avail. Keith checks the answer in the back of the book and tries to work backwards, nothing. Several balls come alarmingly close to hitting them. Which isn’t surprising in the least, they’re sitting in the floor of gym full of shitty teenagers. But Lance will grab them in the nick of time and toss them back towards whichever idiot lost control of it.

“So, I guess we’re fucked, huh?” Lance says, dropping his pencil into his textbook.

Seems that way. She’ll go over it in class, hopefully. Keith answers.

“Cool. So,” Lance says, “you wanna walk home together?”

Sure, Keith writes. _You’ve been following me around all day. If we didn’t walk home together, you’d just be like ten feet behind me like a creep,_ Keith thinks. His shift doesn’t start until 4:30, so he has plenty of time to get to work after he walks home with his friend. Keith checks his phone for the time. **2:57.** He starts to put his things back in his bag and stands, stretching to pop his back. He feels his shirt slide up a bit.

“Huh, what a nice view,” Lance laughs from where he’s seated on the ground. Keith gives him a look. “Help me up?” Lance asks, extending a hand. Keith yanks the taller boy to his feet. The bell rings and kids start to run out the doors like wild animals. Keith waits for the majority of them of them to dissipate and leads Lance towards his locker. He puts in his combination and swings the door open, then he points to the empty top shelf

“Thanks Keith,” Lance says, placing his books inside

No problem, Keith writes on the whiteboard on the inner door of his locker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please comment and leave kudos if you enjoyed this chapter! The story is going to move a little faster from here on I'd think. :)
> 
> Feel free to follow me on Tumblr, [@koganelovesmcclain](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/) and  
> [reblog my post](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/post/173453510078/a-rock-and-a-hard-place-and-you-chapter-5%0A) over there to share with your friends!
> 
>  
> 
> PS: Thanks to all of you who got the memo and gave feedback, it meant a lot! I really appreciate all the nice comments and it motivates me to write more! Please keep the feedback coming! <3


	6. Yogurt and Spanish Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith overhears a fight, and an apology. Lance convinces Keith to try a healthier breakfast option. And then Keith learns a little Spanish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy ny'all. Update time! <3
> 
> ***NOTE: From this point, the story will contain Spanish dialogue. I'm not going to use Google Translate or some other bullshit.  
> So "Italics"= something being said in Spanish.***
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! <3

They exit the building by 3:08 and start to make their way down the street towards Keith’s house. The rain had let up sometime during the day, which Keith is grateful for. He wouldn’t mind walking home in the rain, especially with the use of Lance’s umbrella. But walking to work is a different story. It’s about thirty minutes from school and then he’s on his feet for several hours. Busing in wet shoes, not fun. At all.

“Hey,” Lance starts. Keith looks in his direction with a raised brow. “I just wanted to say thanks for showing me around. And for hanging out with me all day.”

Keith smiles, then shrugs.

“Ah, it’s probably no big deal to you. But I happy I met someone like you on the first day.” Lance says, hands behind his head. Keith pats the pockets of his jacket, finally finding which one he’d stuffed his notebook into earlier.

Don’t thank me. You don’t know me that well yet, he writes. When Lance leans to read it, he scoffs.

“I know enough,” he answers. Keith smiles, then he sees his house over the crest of the hill. _That’s one thing he’ll never know about,_ he thinks, wondering whether Robert had ever come home.

“So, that’s your place?” Lance asks, pointing to the miserable dump. Keith nods. “Cool.”

As they approach, Keith notices that Robert’s truck is still gone. _Good._ If Lance saw him sneak into the house through a window, who knows what he’d think. They stop in front of the mailbox, which Keith opens. He pulls out a stack of mail, mostly bills, and finds a couple things addressed to him.

“Ooh. College applications?” Lance asks. Keith nods, and shows him the envelopes before cramming the others back into the mailbox. “I’ve applied to Altea Tech,” Lance says, “my mom and me visited the campus. It’s so pretty there.”

I’ll have to look into it. Keith writes. Lance nods. And then, they fall into a brief silence. Lance clears his throat.

“I guess I’ll go now. See you later, buddy.” Lance smiles before proceeding down the sidewalk. Keith starts into the yard and up the steps. “Oh! Wait!” Lance says. Keith raises a brow.

“Can we walk to school together in the morning?” Lance asks. Keith nods and gives a thumbs up. He can see Lance’s grin from here. “Awesome! See you then,” he says, walking backwards down the sidewalk. Keith puts a hand on the doorknob and waves before stepping inside.

Once he looks out the window to see that Lance is out of view, he exits and rushes towards his window. He hops into his room to drop his backpack and grab the bag that has his work clothes in it. He’ll change when he gets there.

\--

Keith gets home by eleven, and he’s actually not that tired. Work was surprisingly slow tonight. He only had a few tables. Thankfully, he gets paid whether or not there are tables to clean. And tomorrow’s payday. He’ll have to cash his check on the way back and stuff the cash into his suitcase.

He’s getting closer and closer to having enough money to leave. Months ago, back when he’d first come up with this plan, he’s decided to save up at least $15,000. Which sounds like a lot. But honestly, it’s a perfectly good amount to get him started. And it’s not totally unreasonable. Keith makes about a grand every month. But he has to pay for food and school supplies and anything else. So, he rounds down to nine hundred-ish a month. And he’s had his job for almost a year.

He probably has close to ten thousand by now. He really should count it. Maybe he’ll do that this weekend. He turns on his lamp to start looking over school work. Then he remembers that he and Lance had already tried (and failed) to finish their math assignment. So he decides to just go to bed.

\--

Keith wakes up to a fight soon after he falls asleep, which strikes him as odd. Not the fight, but the late hour. Most of their fighting is done before he goes to bed. He glances at the clock, **11:54.** Then, he rolls over and pulls his pillow over his head. He’s certainly not going to go break it up. And he isn’t going to listen to them argue. Or maybe he will.

It’s probably better to know what’s going on than to ignore it. Keith sighs softly and shifts in his bed. He hears Bob yell something about needing money.

“You get your unemployment money! If you can’t afford to go to the bar every night, that’s your fault!” his mother yells back. Keith smiles softly, at least she’s standing up for herself this time.

“Just give me fifty bucks! I’ll pay you back later!” Robert shouts. Keith hears his mom groan, then she’s…  Keith listens intently, and figures that she must be fishing in her purse.

“Here take it. Just shut up and get out! Keith is trying to sleep. He has school tomorrow for God’s sake!” she says. Keith’s eyes widens. His mom actually cares that he has school. That’s a shock.

“Who cares? He’s probably flunking out! He’s just a stupid brat anyway!” Robert answers. Keith winces, but doesn’t let it affect him. He’s said worse.

“I said go! And when you get back, you’d better be sober! I mean it!” his mom says. Keith hears the front door slam and Robert’s truck fire up. His mom sighs loudly in the kitchen. Keith does the same before lying back down to go to sleep.

“Keith, are you asleep?” Krolia asks. His eyes pop open, but he’s frozen in place. She hasn’t said his name, or even acknowledged him in weeks. He watches his doorknob turn, but it doesn’t open. She sighs a weary laugh. “Locked us out, huh? You’re smart. I’m glad. Sleep well. I love you,” she whispers. As her foot falls dissipate, Keith releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

He couldn’t have let her in even if he’d wanted to. It’d been so long since she’s spoken to him, he wasn’t expecting it. Especially since she sounded like she actually cared. Keith swallows the lump in his throat and goes to sleep. He’s got to be ready when Lance gets here. He’s going to walk to school with his new friend.

\--

He’s up and outside before Lance shows up, which isn’t surprising. He waits by the mailbox for at least five minutes before he sees Lance coming down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road. He notices Keith and quickens his pace, jogging across the street to join Keith.

“Sorry! I thought I was early. How long were you waiting?” Lance asks, catching his breath. Keith finds his notebook as they start down the sidewalk.

Not very long. Maybe 5, he writes.

“Oh. Okay. I’ll try to be on time tomorrow.” Lance says. Keith gives a thumbs up. “Are we going to McDonald’s for breakfast again?”

Sure? Keith writes with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Cool. I think I’m getting something a little less greasy today. Have you ever tried their parfaits?” Lance asks. Keith thinks for second. To be honest, he isn’t really even sure what a parfait is. He thought it was Starbucks kind of thing.

No, I don’t think so, Keith writes.

“Oh. Well, you should try one sometime. They’re pretty good. And they’re on the dollar menu.” Lance says. Keith think for a second. That’s certainly cheaper than his normal breakfast. And whatever it is, it’s probably healthier too.

I’ll try one, Keith decides.

“Cool.” Lance says. They continue their walk in silence for a few moments, then Lance snaps his fingers. “Oh yeah! I looked at that math from yesterday and I realized what we were doing wrong!”

You did? Keith asks.

Lance nods, “yeah! I’ll have to show you.”

Please do, Keith writes.

Once they reach the restaurant, Lance orders two parfaits and pays for both. Keith tries to argue. But he’s insisted.

 “C’mon Keith. It’s just a buck. Besides, if you don’t like it, you’ll have to get something else.” Lance says, as Jackie slides the two plastic cups across the counter. Lance takes them and starts towards the same booth they’d shared he day before.

“Have a good day at school,” Jackie says, raising her eyebrow at Keith. He gestures to Lance and raises his. She nods. And he nods back. Then she smiles.

“I can see you all having some kind of conversation about me,” Lance says without turning around. Keith’s eyes widen. “I’m Lance, Keith’s new friend. And I told him about these,” he gestures with the parfaits, “so I’m buying.”

“Oh honey, we weren’t talking about you.” she says with a laugh. Keith smiles and goes to join Lance at the table.

Jackie had been asking Keith if he thought Lance was cute. She’d somehow known Keith was gay the first day he’d met her. It was back in March and it had been snowing like crazy that day. It was during one of his mom and Robert’s bigger fights and he’d had nowhere else to go to get away. Because school had been called out for weather.

He was still talking then and when he walked into the otherwise empty McDonald’s, she joined him at a table and they talked. When she asked why a kid like him was out in the middle of the storm, he’d told her. His mom and her boyfriend were fighting. And she asked, ‘is it because you’re gay?’ He remembers his mouth dropping open and her laughing at his reaction. She’d apologized for assuming and told him how her parents reacted when she told them she was a lesbian. And since then, he’s had a shit ton of respect for her.

\--

They have their breakfast and Lance shows Keith the answers to the homework assignment, which Keith makes notes of. Because Lance explains it much better than Mrs. Davidson had the day before. Keith copies the rest from Lance and then, they’re off to class.

\--

Once they get to class, Mrs. Davidson says she’s going to take up the homework as soon as she’s done taking attendance. Which shocks the whole class. From what Keith had told him, she always goes over homework before taking it.

“I know, you’re all going to whine. And I know it’s my fault. But I’m going to start being a lot more strict. Because you should be graded for the work you do. Or that you don’t do,” she says, looking towards the back of the room, where everyone is shuffling their papers around. Lance laughs and feels Keith’s pencil poke his arm.

You’re a life-safer, Keith’s notebook says. Their teacher calls the role and then tells everyone that she’ll work out problems on the board by request, after she takes their papers, so that they can’t just copy it down for a grade.

Once all the papers are tucked safely in their folder, she sits down at her desk and turns on the ELMO. “Which problems do we need to go over?” she asks, clicking her pen.

Keith raises his hand, “number twelve, please?” he asks politely. Lance smiles at the sound of his voice. He’s not sure how, but he’s going to get Keith to start talking to him.

\--

Most of the day goes by smoothly. They do some simple equations in Chemistry and read more Macbeth in English. In Mrs. Wilson’s class, they start another movie, which Lance and Keith used to their advantage and completed their math homework. And in Spanish, they only did a couple of word searches and took definitions. So, in short Keith hasn’t learned anything all day.

But gym class is where the trend changes. Their teacher still isn’t back. And most of the kids take a seat along the wall and start talking to their friends. But there are the few assholes who’d rather play basketball than shut up and be still.

“So,” Lance starts as he sits down, “why did you take the easier Spanish teacher?”

Hmm, I don’t know. I mean, it’s just kinda hard to me. Keith admits, on the page.

“Oh, I could help you.” Lance says.

I mean, I can like, remember the words. And I can read Spanish usually. But I can’t understand when someone speaks it. And I can’t speak it back. Keith writes. Lance reads it and nods.

“So, if I say, ‘ _hello, Keith. How are you?_ ’ You won’t know what I’m saying?” Lance says, switching in between English and Spanish fluidly.

Well, yeah. You said, ‘hi Keith. How are you?’ But if you tried to have an actual conversation with me in Spanish. You wouldn’t be able to, Keith writes.

“Hmm. _‘I’m bored.’_ ” Lance says. Keith thinks for a second before it clicks.

I’m sorry you’re bored, he writes, pleased with himself for understanding.

“ _I like your hair._ ” Lance says with a smile.

You like something? Keith thinks for a second. Lance repeats it, a bit slower this time and Keith picks up his pencil again. You like my… horse?

Laughter bubbles out of Lance when he reads it. Keith scribbles down a ‘cut it out, I told you I don’t know Spanish,’ but Lance won’t stop giggling long enough to read it. Keith scrunches his brows. “Stop laughing,” he whispers when Lance won’t look at his notebook.

“I’m sorry. I just… Your horse,” he says, almost choking on his laughter.

“It’s not that funny,” Keith whispers, looking around at the rest of the kids sitting by them.

“It kind of is.” Lance says, finally stopping. Keith grabs his notebook.

If it’s not my horse, what was it?

“Your hair,” Lance says softly. Keith’s mouth finds itself in an ‘o’ shape.

Oh. Then, thank you, he writes, trying not to feel embarrassed at the compliment. Then he shakes his head and changes the subject.

How did I mess it up? Keith asks.

“Can I borrow your notebook?” Lance asks. Keith nods and passes it to him. Lance takes the book and Keith slides over closer to the other boy. Lance writes down two words, they’re only one letter away from being the same. “This one,” Lance says, pointing with the tip of the pencil, “is hair. The other one is horse.”

Then I didn’t mess up that bad. Keith writes.

“No. You didn’t. It was just kind of funny.” Lance says with a smile. As soon as the words exit his mouth, the last bell of the day chimes and students start shuffling out of the room. Lance stands first, then extends an arm to Keith. He takes it and Lance yanks him out of the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! <3 Please leave a comment and/or kudos if you enjoyed this chapter! 
> 
> Just a reminder that my blog is [@koganelovesmcclain](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com)  
> on Tumblr. And if you ever have any questions about the fic or anything, my askbox is open over there!
> 
>  
> 
> xoxo,  
> Sam


	7. The Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and his family go to a fancy restaurant to celebrate. On the other side of the coin, Keith busts his ass at work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I'm sorry this update took so long. :( I really had been trying to update regularly with this fic. But! I made this chapter double length to make up for it!  
> Thank you for reading! <3

Once they visit Keith’s locker to put away their books, they leave school together again. They hit the sidewalk, walking shoulder to shoulder. Lance yawns and then sighs. Keith gives him a look.

“Oh nothing. I just remembered that I have plans tonight. And I can’t go home and lay on my face.” Lance says, groaning.

Girlfriend? Keith asks.

“Ha! No. I have plans with my mom and my aunt.” Lance admits.

Ooh. Even better. Keith writes, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Shut uppp.” Lance laughs. “My aunt got engaged and we’re taking her out to celebrate.”

Oh. Do you not like her? Keith asks.

“No, I mean, I love her to death. But… do we really have to leave the house to celebrate? Can’t we just get some pizzas or something?”

Keith snorts, they could spell out ‘congrats’ with olives.

“Can you imagine how many olives that would be? Gross.” Lance says, making a face.

Yeah, I can’t stand them, Keith agrees. I hope you have a good time anyway.

“Thanks,” Lance say. “What are you up to tonight?”

Probably nothing, Keith lies. He doesn’t know why. Lots of kids have jobs, it’s not an indicator that his life sucks. But still.

“Lucky,” Lance says.

_Yeah,_ Keith thinks, looking up at Lance’s smile.

\--

Lance drops Keith at his house and continues to his own. And the whole way back, something gnaws at him. He knows it’s probably nothing. But he can’t help it.

He’s worried.

About Keith.

He seemed really reluctant to go home. And it rubs Lance the wrong way. It’s like, he didn’t want to go inside his house? But that doesn’t make sense. Lance pauses for a second. Now that he thinks about it, Keith had acted similarly the day before. Checking the mail for several minutes and standing on the porch for a while. It was kind of strange.

Of course, it could just be that Keith didn’t want Lance to leave? _Maybe that’s it. Well, he could’ve asked me to hang out_ , he thinks, continuing down the sidewalk. _But I’d already told him I had stuff to do. Dang,_ Lance kicks a pebble down the walk a bit and finishes his thought. _I’ll ask him to hang out tomorrow, after I read some of that Macbeth shit,_ he decides, stepping onto his own front porch.

He twists the doorknob and steps inside his otherwise empty house. Well, it’s full— of boxes and furniture. They’ve been here for about two weeks and have barely started unpacking. He and his mom both despise unpacking. Hell, he has barely unpacked his clothes. And he’s got to find something nice to wear to this restaurant. He starts upstairs to put things away till it’s time to go to dinner.

He gets upstairs and starts to decide which of the three rooms he really wants. In the… eleven days they’ve been here, he’s tried sleeping in all three bedrooms. He’s been rotating through, each night a different room. He needs to decide which to make his own. He has posters to hang up. Not that he’ll get around to that today, but still.

Each of them has their own bathroom, so that’s not a factor. Of the three, he’s leaning towards the biggest. That leaves the one with the window seat and the other that has a nice bookcase built in. Since they’ll most likely become guest rooms, he can still use those features whenever he likes. He decides to take the larger room and starts to move his boxes from the hall into it.

\--

Once his boxes are piled in his new room, he puts on Spotify and takes his time unpacking all his clothes. He organizes them by color and hangs them in his closet. He does the same with his shoes. And starts arranging other things. He drags his dresser into the room, which thankfully, wasn’t that heavy.

He opens another box, this one filled with trinkets and photos. And a small clock, which reads 5:30.

“Oh shit,” Lance says, wondering if it’s the right time. He checks his phone, which confirms that yes, it is 5:30 and he has less than an hour to get ready. He drops what he’s doing and starts to go take a shower when he hears the door to the garage open. _Mom’s home._

“Lance? Are you here? You better be.” Mia’s voice echoes from downstairs.

“Yeah ma, coming.” Lance says, hurrying to the stairs. When he reenters the kitchen, his mother is setting down her purse on the kitchen island.

“What have you been up to?” she asks with a smile.

“I unpacked some stuff.” Lance answers.

“Oh great! You decided on a room?” she asks, pouring a glass of juice.

“Yep. The big one,” Lance replies.

“I figured that’s the one you’d stick with.” she downs the juice in one gulp and puts the glass in the sink. “How was school? Did you make any new friends?”

“Just the one so far,” Lance answers. He really hasn’t even talked to anyone else yet. Which is strange for him, a social butterfly.

“Well, that’s good. Pick a good one and keep him,” Mia smiles brightly. “I’m gonna go get ready. We need to be out the door by six-thirty. Our reservations are at seven. I’ll help you finish unpacking when we get back.” Mia says, walking towards her bedroom.

“You don’t have to. I don’t have much left,” Lance says, following her towards the stairs. She turns and smiles.

“If I help you, you’ll help me,” she laughs. Lance peeks into her room. Her bed sits against the wall and around it, boxes are piled everywhere. A few articles of clothing litter the area. Lance’s eyes widen.

“Ma! You’re worse than me!” Lance says. She laughs, then sighs.

“Where do you think you got it from? Seriously though, go get ready, _son._ ” she pats his shoulder and enters her room.

“Yeah, alright.” Lance jogs up the stairs and into his new room to get ready.

\--

Keith’s night so far… sucks. He’s only been here for a couple hours, but it feels like days. First of all, his waitress didn’t show up. So he’s waiting and bussing. Which is absolutely ridiculous. He doesn’t waiter. He does not know the specials and he hasn’t got the patience to help a bunch of fifty year old assholes decide what to shove down their face holes.

He’s got a headache and the constant clanging of dishes is driving him insane. And it’s not even that loud. God, he just has to last a couple more hours and he can go home and pop some Excedrin. Or a vein, whichever.

But he honestly feels like crawling under a table and going to sleep. But he’ll have to manage. He makes his way towards another empty table and starts to clear it. Then he hears someone snap their fingers. He rolls his eyes. They better not be snapping at him. They are. Keith lets out a shaky breath and returns to the table of a half-bald fucker with a couple of his friends.

“Is there a problem?” he asks with a friendly smile, trying to get this ‘customer service voice’ down. He’s listened to Annie, the waitress he usually shadows, do this a million times. But he isn’t so sure it’s going to help with this crowd. Keith should call a couple retirement homes to see if any residents have escaped.

“This isn’t what I ordered,” the man says, pointing to a half empty plate. _It took you half a meal to realize?_

“You ordered the salmon. That,” Keith says, “is salmon.”

“Well, it not what I wanted.” the man argues. Keith is taken aback. _You ordered it._

“I’m sorry. If you’d like another meal, I’ll go put the order in.” Keith says, pulling out a notepad from his apron pocket.

“I’m not paying for this.” the old man pushes the plate away from him. Keith looks around to see if there are any free servers to deal with this guy.

“I…” Keith glances at the man’s wife, who is clearly mortified.

“Hank, just eat your fish.” one of his friends says.

“No. This is disgusting. I ain’t paying for it!” Hank says angrily, looking at the members of his group. With that, Keith darts away. He doesn’t know what to do. He’s never dealt with this before. This is why he’s a busboy and not a server!

Keith starts to disappear into the kitchen when he runs into one of the servers. Keith thinks his name is Bryan, but they’ve never really spoken.

“Hey, man, you good?” he asks, shifting his tray.

“I, there’s some old guy out there yelling about how his salmon is gross and he said he’s not paying for it and I don’t really know what to do. But I don’t want him to make a scene or something.” Keith says, hiding his face in his hands.

“What table is it?” Bryan asks, scanning the floor for disruptive people.

“Nine.” Keith tilts his head towards it.

“Okay. Here, you take this to four. And I’ll deal with them.” Bryan hands his tray off to Keith. “The salad is for the lady in purple, then go clockwise.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks.” Keith watches the other man head towards his problem table. And he turns to deliver to table four. He puts the salad down in front of an older lady and a couple other dishes for the other two. He doesn’t turn as he heads back towards the kitchen. But Bryan must’ve deescalated the situation, which Keith is severely thankful for.

He waits in the kitchen for a few seconds, then his coworker waltzes in. “God, I hate old people,” he groans.

“Same,” Ashley says, picking up a couple plates.

“What happened?” Keith asks nervously.

“Hmm,” Bryan starts, “he said that he’s not leaving a tip, I said okay. He said he doesn’t want to finish his salmon, I said okay. He said he’s never coming here again, I said okay. Then he called me the f word and told me to go away.” he finishes with a shrug.

“Old people suck,” Ashley says, scooting past them out the door.

“Yep,” Bryan says.

“Thanks for taking care of that for me. I’m not used to this.” Keith apologizes.

“Hey. No problem. This isn’t even your job man.” Bryan answers, clapping Keith’s shoulder. “Back to work, I guess.” he sighs when an order comes up. Keith nods and watches him grab a tray and start to fill it.

\--

Lance and his mom get to the restaurant and his aunt Liliana’s car is nowhere in sight. “She must be running behind,” Mia says, checking the clock on the dash.

“How’d you find this place?” Lance asks, looking at the sign above the doors of the restaurant. ‘The Castle,’ it proclaims in large script. Lance wonders who’d chosen the name. The outside of the place doesn’t bare any resemblance to a castle. But hopefully the food will be good regardless.

“Uh, I googled ‘nice restaurants near me,’” she admits. Lance laughs. “It has good reviews!”

A car pulls into the lot and parks a few spots away. “That’s her,” Mia says. They get out of the car and go to meet her. She squeals excitedly.

“I’m so happy you finally moved here!” she exclaims, pulling her relatives into a bone-crushing hug.

Once they walk into the restaurant, a hostess greets them cheerfully. “Good evening! Welcome to The Castle. Do you have reservations?” she asks.

“For seven o’clock, under McClain.” Lance’s mother replies.

The hostess nods, “right this way.”

The host takes them to a table and a few minutes later, a server appears. He hands them each a menu and asks what they’d like to drink. They each answer water. He nods.

“I’ll be right back.” he says, turning towards the kitchen.

“Lili! Let me see your ring! How did it happen?” Lance’s mom asks excitedly. Instead of showing them her hand, she plucks the ring from her finger and hands it to her sister.

“It’s so beautiful.” Mia says before showing it to Lance.

“It is!” he agrees. It’s a tear drop shaped diamond. It’s not what Lance would propose with, but it’s pretty nonetheless.

A different server appears at the head of the table, with a tray filled with water glasses. He sits one down for each of them and slides the tray under his arm to pull out a notebook.

“Hello, I’m Bryan. Have you all decided yet?” he asks politely.

“Oh. We’re sorry. We’ve been catching up. Can you give just a second?” Lance’s mom asks. The waiter nods.

“Yeah, of course. Take your time, I’ll be back in a second.” he says, rushing towards another table. At once, each of them picks up their menu and starts to scan through the options.

“Mia,” Liliana says quietly, “this is so expensive!”

Lance’s mother waves a hand. “I’m buying Lili. Don’t worry about it.”

“I know but, still you’re going to go broke!”

“My bank account will be just fine, as long as you don’t order one of everything.” Mia replies. Lance laughs and flips to the page with **Steaks** written in a large font. “That goes for you too, _son._ ” she says, eyeing him.

\--

When their server returns, he takes their order and scurries back towards the kitchen. Lance had ordered a small steak and a salad. He hasn’t had steak in so long. His mom orders some kind of fish dish and Lili… well, Lance has no idea what she’d ordered.

But once the server is gone again, Liliana starts to tell about how her fiancé proposed. Lance half listens to his aunt’s proposal story. He doesn’t mean to tune her out, but it’s incredibly noisy and it’s hard to focus on what she’s saying. That and, one of the servers looks familiar.

Lean, slightly muscular with a fluff of dark hair pulled back with a hair tie. If Lance didn’t know better, he’d swear it was Keith. But he’d said he didn’t have anything to do tonight. If only the person would turn around.

“What are you looking at, kiddo?” Liliana asks when she notices Lance staring. _Oh God._ He’s probably missed fifteen anecdotes.

“Oh nothing,” Lance answers.

“Do you see a pretty waitress or something?” she asks, peeking around.

“No, nothing like that. Just looking,” he says. Then, their server appears with their food. And by the time he leaves, the other server is nowhere in sight. Lance shrugs inwardly and joins his family in their meal.

\--

“Keith!”

He whips around to see Annie rushing through the door. “Oh honey, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to be late. My babysitter was sick and I had to wait until my partner got home to come in.” she says, hugging him. He stiffens at the unexpected contact.

“It’s okay,” he says softly.

“Thank you for doing my part while I was gone. I’ll go get changed and I’ll get out there.” she says, pulling her hair into a bun, already half to the locker room.

Keith sighs and clasps his hands. _Thank you,_ he mouths. Now he can go back to his non-speaking, water glass filling, empty dish removing job. And as much as it sucks, he’s beyond relieved.

So, he grabs a water pitcher and scans the dining room, finding a few glasses that needs refreshed. A couple tables still think he’s their waiter. A table of two ladies— with a third empty place, Keith assumes that someone’s in the restroom— asks for a dessert menu. And another asks him for their bill. Which he knows nothing about. So, he returns to the kitchen just as Annie is coming out.

“Six wants their bill and eleven needs a dessert menu,” he tells her, bringing his bus tub to the trash can to start scraping leftovers off for the dishwasher. And with that, he sinks into his usual workplace silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy y'all! Please leave comments or share this fic with your friends if you enjoyed this chapter! <3  
> Y'all know it by now, but my tumblr is [@koganelovesmcclain.](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/) So feel free to follow me over there!  
> (And if you could [reblog my post about this update, ](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/post/174482603003/a-rock-and-a-hard-place-and-you-chapter-7) I'd appreciate it!)
> 
> Stay tuned! (Also, I plan to update [my other fics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samyx914/works) soon! So go check them out if you'd like!)


	8. The Fanciest Bathroom and a Bus Ride Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance has dinner and helps his mom organize her room. And Keith catches a bus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!

When Lance’s food comes, he’s overwhelmed. He had ordered one of the smallest steaks, but the salad, which was supposed to be an appetizer, was as big as his head. And while his mother and his aunt catch up, he chows down. As much as he tries, the more he feels like the salad is never-ending. When he finally finishes it, he’s nearly full. And that pisses him off because he just hasn’t even touched the steak yet.

He excuses himself to go to the restroom just after he finishes his salad. He’s going to die if he doesn’t go pee right now. And once he finds the right door, he’s kind of confused and scared. The bathroom is fancier than the rest of the joint. On one side, there is a typical public bathroom layout: stalls on one wall and a row of sinks on the other. Albeit, these fixtures are really decorative and snazzy. And on the other side sits two wingback chairs around a working fireplace.

“Oookay?” he says softly. He does his business and washes his hands before taking his phone out to take a selfie in the posh bathroom. Yes, that’s probably weird. Does he care? Nope. So, screw you, fourty-something year old man who walks in and gives him a funny look.

After he takes a few different photos— and posts one to Instagram— he returns to the dining area to have a go at this steak. He’d only taken a couple bites of it. He’ll be taking most of it home, if this place has to-go boxes. Hell, even if they don’t, he’ll stash the damn thing in his mother’s purse, he doesn’t give a single fuck.

“We got dessert menus while you were gone,” his mom when he returns to the table.

“Ooh, nice.” he replies, scooting his seat up. He picks up the menu and starts to look it over. Everything sounds delicious. He doesn’t know whether he should order dessert or try to finish his steak. But once his eyes skim the words ‘chocolate cheesecake,’ he makes his decision.

\--

By the time eleven o’clock rolls around, Keith is exhausted. Mentally and physically drained. He’s ready to hit the floor and nap under the sink. But he can’t. Even though most of all the customers have left the building, he still has a few things to do before closing.

“Keith, hey sweetie.” he hears someone say behind him. He sighs mentally and turns. It’s Annie.

“Oh, hey,” he answers.

“God, you look awful,” she says, giving him a quick once-over.

“Gee, thanks.” Keith snorts.

“I was just coming to tell you to get out of here, I’m gonna finish up for you. You covered for me,” she smiles apologetically.

Keith’s eyes widen, “god bless you,” he says.

“He does every morning. Now go home and go to bed, hon.” she says, gesturing for his apron. He yanks it off over his head and hands it over.

“Thanks. I’ll see you later!” Keith says.

His eyelids are heavy and he just wants to climb onto the nearest surface that isn’t a pile of cactuses and pass out. But instead, he collects his paycheck and clocks out at a little before eleven. He exits the building a few minutes later. It’s beyond dark out, but at least it isn’t raining.

With the glow of the streetlights, he sees a bus pulling up to a stop across the street. He jogs over to ask the driver where he’s headed. When he gets to the door, he raps his knuckles against it and the driver opens it up. “Where’s this bus headed?” Keith asks.

“Anywhere you want. There’s no one else on board.” a middle-aged man answers. Keith starts to climb aboard and he pulls out his wallet. It’s almost empty, he’s going to have to cash his check tomorrow.

“How much?” Keith asks.

“Five bucks. Where are we going?” the driver asks. Keith tells him the neighborhood, and he nods. Keith slides a five into the money box. The driver closes the door and Keith drops into a seat. _Thank God for public transportation._

He hasn’t been on a bus in months. But he’s grateful that this one seemed to be waiting for him. He just hopes he doesn’t fall asleep before he gets home. He pulls his paycheck from his pocket and rips open the envelope. It’s a little less than normal, he can’t control that. He’ll cash it tomorrow.

Keith looks out the window. “You can let me out here,” he says. The driver turns his head slightly.

“You sure? We’re a couple blocks away.”

“Yeah,” Keith says. He doesn’t want to wake up his mom, she does work after all. As for Robert, if he were outside, he’d have the bus driver run him over. The driver stops the bus and lets Keith off.

“Have a good night, kid,” he says before closing the doors. Keith waves, yawns, and continues down the street. He makes it to his house, there are no lights on inside, he takes that as a good sign.

When he crawls through his window, his backpack’s strap catches on a nail and rips. “Fuck,” he groans. Once he’s inside, he flips on his lamp and checks to see if it’s repairable. But hell, he’s sewn over that same seam dozens of times in the past year. Maybe he’ll splurge and go to the Goodwill tomorrow to replace it.

\--

Once they finish dinner, each of them requesting a to-go box, they say goodbye and Mia drives them home. Lance stows his leftovers in the fridge and runs upstairs to change into lounge clothes. And goes downstairs to his mom’s room to help her unpack and to talk. When he walks in, she’s sitting on her bed, plucking through some jewelry.

“Hey sweetheart,” she smiles.  “What’s up?”

“I came to help.” Lance answers. “What do you need me to do?”

“Aw thanks,” she says, looking around at her mess of a room. “If you could maybe, put things on hangers? That would be good?”

Lance nods, “alrighty.”

“So, how much of Lili’s rambling did you hear at the restaurant?” she asks, starting to untangle a necklace’s chain.

“Not too much,” he admits before grabbing a box and taking a seat beside her. He rips the tape off the box, labeled ‘casual,’ and finds a handful of hangers. Mia finishes with her necklace and goes to hang it in her standing jewelry box.

“Well,” she says, picking up another—this one Lance had bought her a few birthdays ago. She starts to unknot it and begins recapping the entire evening for her son. Lance finishes his first box and starts hanging the clothes in her closet.

When he’s finished, he stands back for her to see. “How’s that?” he asks.

“Ooh, that looks great, _son._ Do you know what time it is?” his mom asks. Lance grabs his phone.

“It’s close to eleven,” he answers.

“Oh no. I have work in the morning.” she groans, standing to place a couple more necklaces. Lance stands and stretches.

“I guess you’re going to bed then?” he asks.

“Yeah,” she answers before giving him a hug. “Night night, hon. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Night Ma,” Lance replies. When she releases him, he grabs a juice pouch from the kitchen before going upstairs. He decides that he’ll finish organizing his bedroom. Or that he’ll at least work on it till he gets sleepy.

First, he gets back to a box of photos and trinkets. He’ll have to pick up some kind of hooks for them tomorrow. But till he can hang them, he sets the pile of black photo frames in a stack on his dresser. Then he moves onto another box, which contains his curtains and sheets and all kinds of shit from his old room. He can get rid of the sheets his mom bought the day the movers brought their things. They were temporary anyway.

After he changes his bed clothes, he takes down the curtain rod to slide his navy blue curtains on. When he goes to put it back above the window, he glances outside to see a bus pulling away. _That’s weird. A bus this late?_ he thinks, watching a shadowy figure continue down the street. He shrugs and starts to smooth out his curtains.

He finishes and takes a look at his room. It’s a work in progress, but it’s starting to feel like home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this chapter! <3


	9. Near Death Experience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both boys have some errands to run, so they go to Walmart together. After they survive an idiot's car in the parking lot, shenanigans occur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry I missed last week's update, but the new season killed me! <3  
> Enjoy!

When Lance wakes, he lies in bed for half an hour deciding how and where he’d like each of his posters. He thinks he finally figured out the layout he wants. And he should have plenty of wall space left over in case he buys new ones. He has to pick up some stuff today to finish putting his living space together.

He’d made a list the night before, so far it contains only double-sided tape and storage bins. He isn’t sure what kind of bins he wants, but there is a shelf in his closet that _needs_ baskets on it. And he hasn’t started putting his bathroom together yet, and he’s gonna need something to store his toiletries in.

Lance finally rolls out of bed at about nine o’clock. He decides to bathe before he leaves for the day, so he puts on a Wake Up playlist and hops in the shower. When he goes to grab the shampoo, he realizes he needs to add ‘shower caddy’ to his list.

When he gets out of the shower, he towels off and changes before going downstairs to eat something. He isn’t a great cook, but he can manage a slice of toast. As he butters it, he wonders if he should text Keith and ask if he wants to come over or something.

“He might be sleeping still,” he says to himself. Then he takes a bite of toast and decides he needs to text him anyway.

\--

When Keith gets up, he showers almost immediately. He’d been too exhausted to bother the night before. Hell, he hadn’t even changed out of his work clothes before he crawled into bed. He makes a plan for the day: get breakfast, cash his check, and find a backpack. And if he can’t find one at Walmart, he’ll have to go somewhere else.

He pulls on his jacket and grabs his phone, then he climbs through the window and starts towards the McDonald’s. He hears an annoying chime and whips around, sure that someone with a cellphone must be following him. Then he realizes that that’s ridiculous. It’s his phone. He looks at his jacket pocket dumbfounded.

No one’s messaged him since…

Keith pulls the phone out cautiously. He smiles when he sees that the message is from Lance. The other actually wants to talk to him outside of school?

<Lance 9:34> Hey man, I don’t know if you’re awake or not, but do you wanna hang out today?

Does he? He isn’t sure what ‘hang out’ means here. Does Lance want to play video games? Watch TV? Go somewhere? God, this having-a-friend thing is confusing to him. Keith runs his fingers over the keypad, trying to familiarize himself with it.

<Keith 9:36> Uh, what do you have in mind?

The other texts him back quickly. _Touchscreens, probably faster than this,_ Keith thinks.

<Lance 9:37> I don’t know? I mean, I have some errands to run, but we could go get some food or something.  
<Keith 9:39> I’m about to run some errands myself.  
<Lance 9:40. Oh? Like what?  
<Keith 9:41> Well, for one, I’ve gotta go buy a new backpack. My strap broke.  
<Lance 9:42> I’m down for that, can I join you?  
<Keith 9:43> In going to Walmart?  
<Lance 9:44> Sure. I have some shopping to do.  
<Keith 9:45> Oh, alright.  
<Lance 9:45> Well, give me two minutes to find my shoes, and I’ll meet you at yours?  
<Keith 9:46> Okay.

Keith smiles, huh. Having a friend ask to hang out? That’s definitely new. And even if it’s a mundane trip to Walmart, it’s better than going alone. Keith decides to try and save Lance some walking, especially since they need to go the other way to get to the store. So, he turns and starts towards the other end of the street. He doesn’t know where Lance lives, but he’s sure to come upon the blue-eyed boy up the road.

\--

He does.

He walks all the way to the intersection, the one where the bus had dropped him off the night before. And sees Lance coming from the right. “Hey!” he says, waving.

Keith waves back and Lance jogs towards him. The other reaches his goal and pauses a moment, hands on his hips and head tipped back, to catch his breath.

“I— whew. Am so out of shape,” he says, exhaling slowly.

Keith laughs, _could’ve fooled me._

Lance straightens and smiles. “How are you this morning?”

Keith shrugs, then smiles as they start to walk towards town.

“That’s good.” Lance says. Keith raises a brow. “How am I?”

Keith nods.

“Eh, I’m pretty good. Hungry. I had a piece of buttered toast a minute ago though.” Lance says.

Keith reaches into his pocket to grab his notepad, but it isn’t there. He pats each of his pockets, including the back pocket of his jeans, and he knows he wouldn’t put it there. _Damn._ How’s he supposed to hold a conversation now?

“What’s wrong?” Lance asks.

Keith sighs, “I don’t have my notepad,” he says quietly.

“Oh, do you really need it though? It’s just us, you can talk to me,” Lance says.

“Yeah, okay.” Keith replies. But as soon as he finds a fifty cent notepad at the store, he’s going back to writing his thoughts down. It’s just easier.

\--

It takes almost twenty minutes to reach the Walmart parking lot. There are people pulling in and out of spaces. And it’s like an advanced version of Frogger. Keith has no idea why there are so many people here so early in the morning. Don’t they have lives?

“So, uh, what all do you need to pick up?” Keith asks. Lance glances over.

“Hmm, some tape and a few storage bin things, if I can find any. We might have to find a bus to take us back,” he laughs, “I never know what I’m gonna end up with when I go to the store.”

“Well, I just need to find a backpack. Hopefully they have some cheap ones.” Keith says, crossing his fingers. They start walking up through one of the dozens of rows of parked vehicles.

“Yeah, I don’t know though. You might wanna hit up a thrift store,” Lance suggests.

“That’s the backup plan,” Keith says, stepping over a wadded up newspaper on the ground.

Then, on the left, a car turns over. Keith freezes. Instantly, there’s one hand on his forearm and another wrapped around his waist and he’s yanked out of the way, just as a clunky old sedan slams into reverse, backing into the very spot he’d just been standing. Keith looks up at Lance, eyes blown wide. “Holy shit,” he whispers, heart pounding in his ears. Lance may’ve just saved his life.

“You alright?” he asks. Keith nods. Lance releases him and steps towards car.

“Hey! Hey!” Lance shouts, slamming his fist against the trunk of the car. “What the fuck?! Can you see?! You almost backed over us!” he says, voice shaking, but stern.

The driver, a middle aged man, who probably lives in his mother’s basement, rolls down the window. “What?” he asks, apparently oblivious to the two people he’d almost murdered.

Lance steps up to the door. “I said, can you fucking see?! You almost ran us over, dumbass!”

“You should’ve been paying attention,” the older man says.

Lance shakes his head. “ _We_ have the right of way! Not you!”

“You’re fine,” he says, taking a drink from a fast food cup. Lance throws his hands in the air. Keith can only watch, he isn’t sure if it’s the yelling or the near-death experience that’s rendered him frozen.

“Not everyone is as fast as me. Next time you could actually kill someone! That’s vehicular manslaughter, genius!” Lance shouts in his stupid, neck bearded face. Neck Beard only shrugs.

Lance must realize he’s getting nowhere, he sighs and gives up, returning to Keith. They scoot over even more to let Neck Beard pass. Lance gets out his phone and takes a few photos of his license plate as he drives away. He exhales deeply and puts his phone away. “You okay?” he asks when he notices the look on Keith’s face.

“Yeah, sorry. That just… I’m not good… at confrontation?” Keith says.

“I’m usually not either, but damn,” Lance says, starting towards the store entrance. Keith follows, his legs finally responding to his brain’s instructions.

“Why did you take photos?” Keith asks.

“I’m not sure. I think there’s a way to report reckless driving?” Lance says.

“Oh.” Keith says, rubbing his arm. Lance pauses.

“Hey, I didn’t hurt you when I grabbed your arm did I?” Lance asks, guilt written on his face.

“No,” Keith lies. He can still feel Lance’s grip on his arm. He honestly can’t believe what just happened. If Lance hadn’t been here, he could’ve been hit by a car.

“I just hope that guy doesn’t kill anyone on the way to Gamestop,” Lance says.

Keith laughs, “yeah for real. And he didn’t even care that he almost hit us. Like… what the heck?”

“I dunno,” Lance says as they approach the entrance. The door slides open for them. Lance exhales deeply. “So, you’re headed for the backpacks right?”

“Yup,” Keith says. Well, he will after he cashes his pay check.

“Okay, then I’ll go ahead and go find the tape I need. I’ll meet you at the bags?” Lance asks.

“Sure.” Keith says, giving a thumbs up. They split up and Keith finds his way over to the short line at the Money Center. He gets his money and speeds off towards the backpacks.

He looks through them, most of them are child-sized with cartoon characters on them. There are only a few adult-sized backpacks and all of them are floral print, except for a plain black one that is missing a zipper. Keith sighs, _Goodwill it is._

He waits for Lance to find him, but the other boy never comes. Keith checks his cellphone again. _How long does it time to find tape?_ He gives one last glance to the backpacks and heads off for the office supplies to find his friend.

\--

Looking at Lance now, it’s hard to tell what he’d come into the store for. He had been on his way to the tape, he really had! But on his way, he had to walk past several endcaps. He is now carrying: a bottle of lotion that smells like strawberries, a pair of socks with slices of pizza on them, and a pack of gel pens. He _needs_ all these things!

When he finally tells himself that he’s not going to pick up anything else that isn’t a tape dispenser, he passes a huge bin full of stuffed animals. Well, he _almost_ passes it, but then he sees the clearance sign over the bin. Two for five bucks, how could he resist?

So now, he’s dangling over the edge of the bin, digging through it to get to a navy blue shark trapped at the bottom of the bin. Just as he’s about to grab it, he hears a laugh. He scrunches his brow. He emerges from the pile, shark in hand, to find Keith giggling at him, with a hand over his mouth.

“Is this where you disappeared to?” Keith asks, faint smile still on his face.

Lance feels his face start to heat up, probably from being upside down for so long. He chuckles and rubs his neck. “Yeah. I got kind of… distracted,” he says, gathering his other things from where he’d left them on a nearby shelf.

“That’s fine, I just didn’t know what happened to you,” Keith says. Lance gives a look to the sign above the stuffed animals.

“Sorry. I— Hey, do you want one of these?” Lance asks, shaking his shark. “They’re on sale, so… I’m buying?” he offers.

“Are you sure?” Keith asks.

“I’ve got to get two to get the deal, so… if you don’t pick one out, I’ll just find another shark.” Lance says. Keith smiles and starts looking at his options. Lance watches him scan the mound of plushies, ignoring a tiger, a pig, a horse, a bear, and a cat. Then he crouches down to look through the side of the bin.

“Ooh,” Keith says, fishing out a purple hippopotamus. “Check it out.”

“Cute!” Lance smiles.

“Storage baskets?” Keith asks, hugging the hippo close to him.

“Uh, yup. Do you know where those would be? This is the first time I’ve been in here,” Lance says.

“Hmm, I think over there?” Keith says, points to the left.

“Lead the way.” Lance says.

\--

Lance follows Keith through the store, they stop and grab some tape, and then go to the storage area. And they find the smaller bins in the next aisle. Keith holds Lance’s things while he looks through them.

“What do you think?” Lance asks. There are so many options: size, material, color.

“I like these,” Keith says, gesturing with his elbow to a set of clear organizers.

“For the bathroom?” Lance asks.

Keith nods, “are they big enough?”

“Yeah, I think they’ll be perfect. Now I need to find some for my closet,” Lance says, putting the set in the middle of the floor.

“Those are kinda cool,” Keith says, pointing his foot at a six pack of white bins, “and they’re cheap too.”

“Awesome. You’re so good at this,” Lance says, pulling the package from the bottom shelf. “Damn, I really should’ve gotten a cart. Well, to be fair, I didn’t think I was getting this much stuff.”

“There’s an empty cart over there,” Keith says. Lance turns, sure enough, there’s an empty cart sitting in the next aisle.

“Huh. There’s no one with it. Do you think it’s alright to take it?” he asks.

Keith shrugs and starts towards it, there’s nothing inside and no one around it, so in his opinion, it’s up for grabs. He drops the armful of stuff into the baby seat and pushes it back towards Lance. And he sets his new storage bins in the larger part.

“Cool,” Lance grins.

“Do you need anything else?” Keith asks.

“Nah,” Lance says. He’ll pick up a shower caddy some other time. It’s going to be hard enough to get this stuff home. Unless… “Hey, do you think it would be ridiculous if I bought a wagon to bring this stuff home with?”

“I…” Keith starts. “How expensive are wagons?”

“Dunno. Should we go look?” Lance asks.

“Yeah?”

\--

“This says it’s a foldable shopping cart,” Keith says, looking at a box.

Lance kneels down to read the box, “hmm, it’s on sale. Twenty-eight bucks. What do you think?”

“I think it’s a good idea.” Keith says. Lance pulls it from the shelf, it isn’t super heavy, which is good. It’ll be handy until he gets a car. And after he gets one, he can keep it in the trunk. It’ll be a practical purchase. Lance sets it on top of the cart.

“Here we go,” Lance says.

“Are we ready to check out?” Keith asks.

Lance nods, and shoves the cart forward.

\--

When they reach the line of check-out counters, they’re all occupied. So, rather than wait for one of them to be available, they opt for the self-check machine. Lance scans the items and Keith tosses them into bags. And then, after Lance has paid and received his change, Keith pushes the cart into the foyer.

“Aw crap,” Lance says when he sets down the rolly cart’s box.

“What?” Keith asks.

“Well, I should’ve bought a pair of scissors to open this thing.” Lance sighs. Keith pulls a pocket knife from his jeans pocket. He snaps it open and cuts open the tape on the top of the box. “Oh,” Lance says.

Keith clicks his knife closed and puts it back, then they pull the cart up out of the box and it doesn’t need much assembly — thankfully. They only have to attach the handle with a couple of small screws.

A couple of people give them funny looks, but they don’t care, they’ve got shit to do. They pack all their things into the trolley and shove its box into the recycling bin at the store’s entrance. Then, they’re ready to roll.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you liked this chapter! 
> 
> Don't for that my tumblr is [koganelovesmcclain.](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Stay tuned! <3


	10. Breakdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the boys finish their shopping, they return to their homes. 
> 
> Keith tries to be productive during some alone time. Lance does some organizing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaccccckkkk!  
> Hi guys, I'm so sorry it's been so long. I hope you enjoy this chapter. <3

“This thing rolls pretty well,” Lance says while they wait for a Buick to pull into a parking spot. Once its engine shuts off, they continue walking.

“That’s good,” Keith replies. He’d realized when they were checking out that he’d forgotten to find something to write on.

He sighs inwardly. _It’ll be fine,_ he tells himself. Lance is his friend. He smiles, _yeah, he’s my friend._

Then, a voice in his head reminds him that he’s only know the other boy for a few days. But he can do this. He used to have a lot of friends when he was a kid. He knows he’s capable of having one. But then again, saying stupid things has fucked up his life a lot in the last couple of years. He’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t say anything stupid. He finally has a new friend and he’s gonna do his best to keep this one.

“You alright?” Lance asks, waving a hand in his face. Keith shoves his insecurities aside and rejoins reality.

“Oh! I’m fine! Sorry, did you say something?” Keith asks.

“I asked if we should find a bus or something. I don’t really know… how far we’re going?” Lance answers.

“Oh sure, uh. It’s not close. But there’s a bus stop at the edge of the parking lot,” Keith says, pointing to the small structure.

“Nice,” Lance grins.

\--

Fifteen minutes later, they step off the bus into the Goodwill parking lot. Once they reach the store, Keith holds the door open for Lance so he can pull his cart inside. Then, he leaves Lance to wander around the store and makes a beeline for the wall of backpacks. _Hot damn._ Keith eyes several options right off the bat.

One dark gray, with several pockets _and_ a bottle holder.

The next is white with a NASA logo, which is kinda cool. But it’s very small.

And the last is dark red and black, with even more pockets than the first one.

As he stands there, debating his choices, he can see Lance out of the corner of his eye, fiddling with something a few feet away. When he notices Keith looking at him, he rushes over with a sort of tacky, but pretty mermaid lamp.

“Look how cool this is!” he squeals, showing it off.

“Nice!” Keith agrees, amused by the other’s enthusiasm.

“And it’s only six bucks!” Lance reads from the price tag.

“Awesome!” Keith laughs.

“Sorry,” Lance says, sheepishly holding the lamp against his chest, “I got excited.”

“It’s fine! I’m glad you found something.” Keith says.

Lance turns to face the wall and his face lights up. He plucks a one-strapped backpack from the wall. “I had one just like this in third grade! Everyone thought it was the coolest,” he laughs, slipping it over his head.

_He’s so cute._ Keith smiles and watches Lance adjust the strap to fit snugly across his chest.

“How do I look?” he laughs, striking a pose.

“Hmm, like a third-grader?” Keith quips.

“Rude,” Lance says, squinting as him, then he notices a mirror. “Oh. Never mind, that’s fair,” he says, removing it to hang it back on the wall.

“Did you find a backpack?”

“I was trying to decide between these two,” Keith says, taking them off the wall. “Whatcha think? Gray or red?”

“Get whichever one _you_ like,” Lance says.

Keith puts on the red backpack, to test it out. It fits him well and the straps are padded, so they won’t dig into his shoulders. Then he tries on the gray one. They’re both equally comfortable, damn. Keith sighs.

“They’re both good.” Keith says, holding a bag in each hand.

“Then, get both of them,” Lance suggests. “You’ll have like, a backup, you know?”

“Huh,” Keith says. It’s a good idea. And he’s got eight bucks. “Yeah, why not?” Keith decides, slinging them each over his shoulder.

“Awesome,” Lance smiles, looking around the nearly-empty store.

“Are you ready to go?” Keith asks.

“Oh, yeah. Sure. I’ve already spent… way too much today,” Lance says, clearly doing some kind of math in his head.

“That seems like an understatement.” Keith jokes.

“Yeah, definitely is,” Lance says.

\--

A while later, they’re getting off the bus on their street. And they part ways, Lance starts towards his home and Keith towards his own… personal hellhole. Nevertheless, Keith smiles and waves goodbye to his friend before he sulks down the sidewalk.

As he approaches the place, he doesn’t see any vehicles parked out front. His eyes widen.

Could it be? There’s no one home?

Thankfully, he doesn’t have to sneak into his own yard today. Instead, he strolls confidently to the back of the house and crawls through the window.

He resigns to lay down for a few minutes, to enjoy the silence and the residual happiness he has from being around human sunshine. There’s such tranquility of being home by himself.

He almost falls asleep, but at some point, he remembers that he has over two hundred dollars in his wallet. He can’t leave it there. Who knows what could happen to it. He jerks awake and stands far too quickly, nearly falling back down.

When he recovers, he gracefully continues to his closet. He removes a panel of drywall that he’d cut out a while back and pulls out an old suitcase that he keeps his money in.

He wants to chuck the new cash inside and go back to sleep, but… there’s no one around, so he might as well count it, right?

Keith wipes the sleep from this eyes and sets the case on his desk. Then he sits down and starts to count. As he counts, he sorts his hard earned money into several tidy stacks. One of hundreds, another for fifties, and one more for twenties. He keeps anything smaller on him, to use on food or for bus fare.

\--

Keith has counted almost six thousand dollars when he hears his mother’s car pull up. He wonders if he should hide his money, but she doesn’t even know he’s here. Or that he has a job in the first place, let alone a secret stash of money. So she probably wouldn’t try to take it from him. _Probably_.

He continues to count, silently now, and his mind ends up on the same topic as always. Why does his mom hate him so much? Why him? Why is this _his_ life? He’s not a bad person. He’s never hurt anyone.

Well, except some kid in elementary school who made fun of his ‘weird, pointy ears.’

That kid he pummeled.

But that doesn’t count! His dad taught him to defend himself!

Keith sighs softly, shakily. His dad was the best.

‘Was’ being the keyword here.

Three years earlier, the firefighter had run into a burning house in the line of duty.

And he never came out.

He was commonly nicknamed ‘Texas’ because of the accent he’d acquired in the six years that he lived there. The accent that Keith would never hear again. Keith swallows thickly and decides to put his cash away. After all, he hasn’t looked at a single bill in the last ten minutes. And now nostalgia and depression are threatening to set up in his head and his heart.

He gathers up all the money and tosses it back into suitcase, completely ruining the organization he’d had seconds earlier. Then he fixes the latches and tucks the case back behind the wall. And lays back down in his bed, tugging the blankets over his head. He just… needs a good cry.

\--

Lance, on the other hand has just finished a plateful of pizza rolls and is about to take his things up to his room. He puts his plate in the dishwasher and looks at his roly cart. It’s piled full with his organizers and baskets and the lamp he just _had to have_ , plus the other random impulse buys. And it would take at least three trips to bring it all up, if it wasn’t in a cart.

Lance grins and grabs the handle, starting up the stairs, dragging the load behind him. It’s not hard to pull it along, but it’s not easy either.

“You really don’t like stairs, huh?” Lance says, straining to yank the cart up over the last few steps to the landing. Having triumphed over the stubborn cart, Lance continues to pull it into his room, where he removes each item carefully.

He sets the lamp on his dresser and takes the pack of storage bins out and sets them on his closet shelf. He’ll decide where the lamp will go, and what to put in the bins later. What he really wants is to organize his bathroom.

It doesn’t take very long to get everything put away. In fact, it only takes a few minutes. But his bathroom looks a _lot_ better now that his toiletries aren’t spread all over the counter top. Lance smiles at himself in the mirror before shutting off the light and going back to his bedroom.

“Hmm,” he sighs, somehow content with the state of his living space. He still has a couple things to unpack, but he’s not in the mood for that. Of course, there is school work he could do. And dumb old plays to read. Well, just the one actually.

But he’d rather eat his own hair than do that. He wants to hang out with his friends, but he’s only got one in the city.

Hunk and Allura are about a million miles away! Lance wonders if he should text them, but they might be busy. He hasn’t really spoken to them since they made the move. It’s just weird. Hunk isn’t right next door? What world is this?

Lance glances at the remaining pile of items on the floor. Among his many questionable purchases sits a small, purple hippopotamus. He smiles and picks up both stuffed animals, sitting them on his bed. He’ll have to bring Keith’s to him at school or something.

He notices his school bag slouched over on the ground and rolls his eyes before snatching it up. He starfishes across his bed and pulls out his textbook to start reading some unreadable gibberish.

He barely finishes the first scene when he gets bored.

“Hnn, fuck you, Shakespeare, you boring old bitch.” Lance groans loudly, rolling onto his back to lay against his mound of pillows to think.

Honestly, he shouldn’t really be in AP English Literature. He doesn’t like reading old crap and he certainly doesn’t enjoy the essay writing process.

_But, it’ll be worth it in the end, right?_

_Right._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoy this chapter! (Seriously, _please_ leave comments!)
> 
> Don't forget, my tumblr is [@koganelovesmcclain](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/)! If you could reblog [this post](url), it'd really help me out! Thank you!


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